Search

Purpose: To investigate the level of dental fear and anxiety of children who have cleft lip and palate (CLP)., Materials and Methods: The study was performed at Cukurova University, Faculty of Dentistry. A total of 32 7- to 12-yearold children, 17 of them with CLP (8 girls and 9 boys) and 15 of them without CLP (7 girls and 8 boys) participated in the study. The children were evaluated by using the Facial Image Scale (FIS) and Dental Subscale of Children's Fear Survey Schedule (CFSS-DS) methods. The anxiety state of the children was assessed twice using FIS: first in the dental hospital waiting room (FIS-WR) and after, while sitting in the dental chair (FIS-DC). CFSS-DS was administered to all participants in order to assess the dental anxiety while they were sitting in the dental chair., Results: According to the FIS results, there was no difference between CLP and control group in the waiting room (P = 0.682). However, the CLP group showed lower scores than the control group while they were sitting in the dental chair (P = 0.030). The FIS scores of the CLP group were significantly higher in the waiting room than while sitting in the dental chair (P = 0.007). In the control group, there was no significant difference between FIS-WR and FIS-DC values (P = 0.664). The total CFSS-DS scores of children with CLP were lower than those of the control group, but these differences were not statistically significant (P > 0.05)., Conclusion: Children with CLP showed more anxiety in the FIS-WR than in the FIS-DC, but they showed lower scores than the control group in the FIS-DC. The positive previous experience of meetings with dentists of the CLP children could explain these results. Positive previous experiences with dentists and a short time in the waiting room could be key elements in the care of CLP children.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of the Com-DAS (combined dental anxiety scale) as an indicator for children's perceived dental anxiety and to investigate the effect of age, gender and socio-economic factors on dental anxiety., Materials and Methods: A total of 258 children aged between 8 and 12 years, who had not visited a dentist before, were randomly selected from three different socio-economic status groups. A new scale was developed by combining the C-DAS (Corah's dental anxiety scale) and FIS (facial imaging scale), and named Com-DAS. Original C-DAS was used for validation., Results: There was a high correlation between C-DAS and Com-DAS (r = 0.69). The lowest correlation was in 8-year-old children (r = 0.46), however the mean difference between the scales in this age group was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). The Com-DAS scores showed no statistical difference according to gender, whereas there was a significant difference according to age and socio-economic status (p = 0.001 in both cases)., Conclusion: The Com-DAS used in this study may be of use in those communities where the children and their families have limited literacy skills and their understanding of modern dental procedures may be influenced by non-qualified dental practice.

Objectives: The aims of this study were to determine the frequency of dental anxiety (DA) and dental phobia (DP) in panic disorder, and to follow the changes in DA levels during antidepressant treatment of panic disorder., Methods: Fifty-three controls and 102 panic disorder patients were assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview (SCID), the Panic-Agoraphobia Scale (PAS), and the Corah Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS). Oral health status was defined by the number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) index. The patients were classified into three groups: (1) those without dental anxiety (WDA), (2) those with dental anxiety (DA), and (3) those with dental phobia (DP). All patients were treated with antidepressants for 3 months and the response rates were assessed., Results: At baseline, DAS was significantly higher in both the DA and the DP groups than in the control group. Ten (9.8%) of the panic disorder patients fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for DP; 31 (30.4%) had severe DA. In the control group, none of the patients was diagnosed as DP, whereas 7 (13.5%) had severe DA. Panic disorder and DA both responded to the antidepressant treatment, but DAS scores remained significantly higher in the DP group than in the DA group and the control group at the end of the third month., Conclusions: Our data suggest that both DA and DP are more frequent in panic disorder than in healthy controls. Antidepressant treatment may have been helpful in decreasing DA levels in the DA group but not in the DP group.